The Boston Bruins (11-4-2) and New York Rangers (6-8-3) begin a two-game set at Madison Square Garden with a 7 p.m. ET puck drop Friday. The second game will be played Sunday afternoon. Below, we analyze the Bruins-Rangers odds and lines, with NHL picks and predictions.
The Bruins will try to quickly move on from a 7-2 shellacking they were handed by the New York Islanders Thursday. The 5-goal margin was by far Boston’s worst loss of the season but was also their third loss in four games.
The Rangers took a 4-3 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers Wednesday and return home from a three-game road trip. They remain without LW Artemi Panarin (personal), D Jacob Trouba (thumb), and likely D K’Andre Miller and RW Kaapo Kakko due to COVID-19 protocols.
Bruins at Rangers: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 10:57 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Bruins -185 (bet $185 to win $100) | Rangers +155 (bet $100 to win $155)
- Against the spread/ATS: Bruins -1.5 (+150) | Rangers +1.5 (-185)
- Over/Under: 5.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
Bruins at Rangers: Projected starting goalies
Tuukka Rask (7-2-1, .901 SV%, 2.56 GAA) at Alexandar Georgiev (2-2-2, .893 SV%, 2.95 GAA)
Rask was off Thursday night as backup Jaroslav Halak was left in for all 7 goals against the Isles. Rask last played Sunday and allowed 3 goals on 19 shots but got the win over the Flyers. He faced the Rangers two weeks ago and stopped 33 of 35 shots in a win.
Georgiev is coming off a win over the Flyers exactly one week ago. He faced the Bruins Feb. 10 and allowed 3 goals on 32 shots in an overtime loss. He has a better save percentage at home than on the road but his goals against average on home ice is 3.23.
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Bruins at Rangers: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Bruins 3, Rangers 2
Money line (ML)
The BRUINS (-185) are heavy road favorites and while the price may seem a little scary for a team coming off a 7-2 loss, the veteran B’s will bounce back. The rested Rask has the edge in the goaltending battle and the Rangers are likely to still be without too much firepower to give him a real test.
Despite Thursday’s disaster, the Bruins are fourth in the NHL with a 5-on-5 Corsi For percentage of 54.25. The Rangers are 24th at a rate of just 48.43%.
The Bruins are 0-4 straight up in their last four games on no rest, but the pivot back to Rask and the depleted Rangers roster will buck that trend.
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Against the spread (ATS)
Grab the BRUINS -1.5 (+150) as the better value play. They’ve won six straight against their Original Six rivals and three of those were by multi-goal margins.
The shorthanded Rangers faced two multi-goal deficits against the Flyers Wednesday before narrowing the gap early in the third period.
Over/Under (O/U)
Take the UNDER 5.5 (-115) as the strongest play on this game. The Under is 5-1 in the Rangers’ last six home games, 10-1 in their last 11 games when playing on one day of rest and 4-0 in their last four games against teams with a winning percentage over .600.
The Under is also 6-2 in the Bruins’ last eight games after allowing 5 or more goals.
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